This Is The Apocalypse
by St0rybr00ke
Summary: Denver Pews has been the Dixons neighbor for as long as she can remember. She grew up around them and was best friends with Daryl despite the age difference. She just turned 21 and suddenly woke up and to her shock, the world had gone to shit and people were eating each other. She ran to the Dixons, and she's been running with them ever since.
1. Welcome To Hell

~*~*~Flashback~*~*~  
I sat on my ramshackle front porch and nursed my bruised cheek. Daddy had gotten angry and I bothered him. He lashed out and slapped me really hard. That was an hour ago. He'd thrown me out of the house and since I didn't have anywhere to go, I just sat on the front porch. The mosquitoes were buzzing around me and I occasionally reached up to smack them. In one hand I held my ratty old patchwork rabbit doll. I'd had this since I was a baby and I wouldn't let it go. By now it was dirty and barely even recognizable as a doll, but I wouldn't let it out of my sight. Mommy gave it to me before she died. It was the last thing I had to remind me of her.  
I was just sitting out on the porch in the hot sun when I heard Daddy rustling around inside. Suddenly the door opened and his large form hulked over me. "The fuck you still doing here, kid?!" he shouted angrily, throwing an empty beer can at me. I yelped in fear and jumped up before he could grab me, running out to the yard. He glared at me from the porch, but he was too drunk to come after me. "You get the fuck outta here, I don't wanna see your sorry ass for the rest of the day." he snarled, throwing another beer can at me. I dodged and held my doll tightly in one hand, turning tail and running towards the woods as fast as I could. Daddy thought he was punishing me by sending me away, but really, it was a blessing. I was glad to get away from him. He was an awful man.  
I found myself wandering in the woods that surrounded our little run down neighborhood. I was sort of lost. My already dirty dress was covered in mud, but I didn't have anywhere to go. The mosquitoes were trying to eat me alive, constantly biting at me. I frowned and walked fast to get away from them. Suddenly without warning the dirt underneath my foot crumpled and I pitched forward, tumbling down a small hill. I felt the breath knocked out of me when I knocked into something very solid. I didn't realize it was a person until I sat up and heard a groan. I gasped and jumped off of whoever I had landed on with a mortified expression. "I-I'm s-so sorry!" I gasped, my eyes huge. The stranger, a man sat up and glared at me. He had dark brown hair and bright blue eyes that flickered over me, taking in my dirty appearance and frightened state.  
"The fuck you think you doin', kid?!" he snapped angrily at me as he picked himself up. I flinched when he shouted, hanging my head.  
"I'm s-sorry...I was out on a walk and I kinda fell." I mumbled.  
"What the hell you doin' walkin' out here? Don't you got a momma or somethin' who keeps an eye on you?" he hissed angrily as he picked up a crossbow off the ground and examined one of his arrows. It was bent. He cursed and started to work on fixing it. I kept my pale green eyes glued to the ground and felt my stomach lurch at his words.  
"I don't got a momma." I mumbled. He paused and looked up at me. He groaned after a moment and ran his fingers through his already messy hair.  
"Got a daddy or somebody who gonna find you?" he asked after a moment, obviously displeased that I was still around. I looked horrified at the thought of my father and hastily shook my head.  
"My daddy don't really know where I am." I said quietly. He glowered at me for a moment before he stood up with his crossbow.  
"Well get on outta here, kid. Got better things to do than sit round here and listen to some stupid kid yammer on." he huffed. He started to walk away from me and I just stood there for a moment before I started to follow him. He seemed to know where he was going, and I was hopelessly lost. He didn't seem to notice me until I stepped on a twig and there was a loud cracking sound. He stopped walking and groaned, turning around to glare at me.  
"Why the fuck you followin' me? I told you to git on home." he said coldly. I bit my lip and looked down.  
"I dunno how to get home. I'm lost." I admitted. His head fell back and he groaned.  
"Where you live, kid?"  
"168 Mountain Drive." I murmured timidly. He reminded me of my daddy. The man raised his eyebrows and frowned at me.  
"You serious? You that kid from across the street?" he asked. I frowned and shrugged.  
"Don't ask me, I dunno who you are." I said a little bolder than I meant to. He looked down at me and shook his head.  
"I ain't goin' back early just to take your sorry ass home. Follow me if you want, but you better keep your lil mouth shut, you hear me?" he asked. I nodded. He was my only chance to get home without wandering. He sighed and turned around, resuming to walk along through the woods. I again stood there for a long time before I snapped out of it and started to trail after him as quietly as I could.  
"What's your name, mister?" I asked after a little bit. He sighed loudly and I could practically see him rolling his eyes.  
"Daryl Dixon."  
"I'm Denver. Denver Pews." I introduced myself.  
"Fan-fuckin'-tastic. You wanna shut the hell up now?"  
~*~*~End Flashback~*~*~  
I pulled my hair back into a ponytail and hopped out of bed, tiptoeing out of my bedroom. I had just turned 21, but I was still living with Daddy. I had to be careful not to wake him up or he'd yell at me. I didn't bother to get dressed. I just stayed in my pajama pants and tanktop. I poured myself a bowl of cereal as quietly as I could before I grabbed that and a spoon and snuck barefooted out of the house. I walked across the street to my second home, the Dixon household. I saw Merle's bike and Daryl's truck, so both of them would be home. It was still early, so Merle was probably passed out on the couch. Daryl would hopefully be up though. I bounded up the rickety stairs, making sure not to spill any of my milk before I pushed the door open and walked in. After eleven years, I didn't even have to knock. I just let myself in. Daryl and Merle knew to expect me to just come walking in a lot. I ran over here almost every day to get away from Daddy. He wouldn't dare come over and fuck with Daryl and Merle.  
Just as I thought, Daryl was awake and sitting at the kitchen table, cleaning his crossbow. Merle was still passed out on the couch with the TV playing quietly in the background. The place was messy, but I liked it. Daryl and Merle were sort of like my family now. They both took care of me and protected me. They were just like my brothers. I walked into the kitchen and nodded at Daryl as I sat down on the counter. "How's it going, Daryl?" I asked around a mouthful of cereal. He paused cleaning his crossbow to look over and smile faintly.  
"Jus' peachy, kid." he still called me kid, even after all these years. "What bout you? Havin' any problems with your daddy?" he asked me. I giggled and shook my head as I took a bite of stale cereal.  
"Haven't heard a peep out of him since you and Merle yelled at him a few days ago."  
"Good, fuckin' bastard touches you, Merle an' I'll rip him a new one." he threatened. I rolled my eyes and brought the bowl up to my mouth to take a sip of milk.  
"You can relax, Daryl, I can handle myself." I said as I wiped my mouth on the back of my hand. Daryl scoffed and went back to cleaning his crossbow.  
"Sure thing, kid. Tell you what, you can handle wakin' Merle up, and maybe I'll think bout trustin' you." he said with a faint smirk. I rolled my eyes and got up, walking over to the couch where Merle was scrawled out.  
"Wake up, Merle. Can't sleep all day." I called as I nudged him. He gave a grunt and pushed me back. I rolled my eyes and moved to wake him up again, but something outside caught my eye. I froze and slowly turned to look out the window. My expression soon turned horrified and I couldn't move.  
"Denver, what the fuck you doin' in there? Told you to wake him up, not stand there and do nothin'." Daryl called from the kitchen. I tried to determine if what I was seeing was real.  
"D-Daryl, you're gonna wanna see this." I called over my shoulder.  
"The fuck is it?!"  
"You know our neighbor, Mr. Brown?"  
"Yeah, what bout him?"  
"He's eating his wife." I called in a shaky voice.

A/N: Please read and review! Also available here on quotev: story/3639795/This-Is-The-Apocalypse/2/


	2. Falling To Pieces

~*~*~Flashback~*~*~  
After I had gotten lost in the woods, I followed Daryl around until he got back to his house. I heard Daddy shouting for me and knew I'd be in trouble if I didn't get inside fast. I had thanked Daryl before running over to my house. I didn't look over my shoulder, so I hadn't seen the frown on his face when he heard my daddy yelling at me. Daddy was pissed at me that night and knocked me around a bit. I just crawled into bed and prayed that he wouldn't be there in the morning.  
My prayers were answered. I woke up and he was gone. I jumped out of bed and pulled a pair of torn pants on and a shirt. I hunted around for something to eat in the house, but we didn't have anything that wasn't rotten. I finally found some stale crackers and just took a handful of those. I pushed my hair out of my eyes and walked barefooted out onto the porch. I spotted Daryl on his own porch across the street, cleaning that big crossbow of his and smoking a cigarette. I trotted across the street to him and nibbled on an overly crunchy cracker as I did. He looked up and frowned at me before he looked back down at the crossbow he was cleaning. I continued to stand there until I heard him sigh loudly. "What the hell you doin' over here, kid? Don't you got school or somethin'?" he asked sharply. I raised my eyebrows.  
"It's summer." I pointed out to him.  
"Well then go play with your friends, just get the hell on outta here."  
"I don't have any friends." I said bluntly as I swallowed a mouthful of crackers. Daryl glared at me. He pulled the cigarette out of his mouth and blew smoke out before placing the cigarette back between his lips.  
"Well botherin' me ain't gonna make you none." he snapped at me before he noticed the large bruise on my cheek. "Where'd you get the shiner?"  
"I fell..." I murmured softly as I sat down on the porch steps with my crackers. He eyed me for a moment before he shook his head.  
"What, did the floor punch back at you?" he scoffed. I shook my head.  
"Just fell." I repeated. I wasn't going to tell Daryl my daddy hit me. I didn't want anyone to know. Daddy'd get in trouble and they'd take me to a new family. I didn't want to go live with strangers! Daryl eyed me suspiciously, but he dropped it. "So can I sit here?" I asked him. He frowned down at me before he rolled his eyes.  
"Just keep your mouth shut." he ordered me. I smiled happily and nodded, obediently being quiet as I ate my stale crackers.  
~*~*~End Flashback~*~*~  
"What the fuck you talkin' about, neighbor eatin' somebody?" Daryl barked from the kitchen as he stood up and walked over to me. I stepped aside so he could look out the window. He did and looked about as shocked as I had looked. "The fuck...?" he muttered in a low voice. I had a horrified expression and I slowly shook my head. A low grunt made me look towards the couch though as Merle sat up with a groan, stretching tiredly.  
"Whas goin' on?" he slurred out tiredly as he stood up.  
"Neighbor's eating somebody." I said shakily. Merle paused before he stood up and walked over to the window, nudging Daryl aside so he could look out. He looked stunned before he turned and walked back over to the couch, starting to hunt for the remote.  
"Merle, the hell you doin'?! Our neighbor's eatin' some poor shmuck, not really the time to be watchin' TV." Daryl said in disbelief as he tried to think of what to do. Merle glowered at him as he found the TV remote under the sofa.  
"Aw shut the fuck up, lil brother. I heard bout shit like this on the news. Thought it was some stupid joke or somethin'." he muttered to himself. I walked over to him with my arms crossed as Merle flipped through the few channels they had until he found the news channel. The anchor, a middle aged woman looked frazzled.  
"...knows where the virus came from. Symptoms first appear as a high fever and then death. Time varies before reanimation. The virus is spread through a bite. Citizens are urged to head to a safe facility as fast as they can. They can be found in Minneapolis, New York, Atlanta..." I no longer paid attention to what she was saying as I turned to Daryl.  
"Daryl, Atlanta! That's only a few hours away." I said excitedly. This seemed serious. Daryl peered out the window and thought for a moment before he nodded.  
"Then we'll head there. Maybe somebody'll be able to tell us what the fuck's goin' on." he muttered.  
"Kid's comin' with us?" Merle asked as he switched the TV off. Daryl nodded.  
"Ain't just gonna leave her. Go pack up some stuff, Denver. We'll get outta here soon as we can." I nodded at Daryl's words.  
"Be careful, don't let that thing get near you." Merle reminded me. "You heard what that news bitch said." he muttered. I nodded again and started for the door.  
"I'll be careful, I promise." I called to them before I stepped out onto the porch. I stood there staring at the monster that had once been Mr. Brown. I didn't feel fear, just curiosity. I wanted to understand what was going on, but now wasn't the time. I kept quiet as I darted across the street and into my house. I ran to my room and hastily changed into jeans and a t-shirt as well as a pair of sneakers. "Wake up, Daddy! Something's happening and we gotta get out of here!" I called over my shoulder. My dad may be a sorry son of a bitch, but I wasn't leaving him to fend for himself. I didn't hear a response, but I didn't bother to slow down packing my things into a duffel bag. I zipped it up, done in record time. I grabbed it and ran into the living to get my dad's pistol from underneath the couch cushion. I was shoving that in my bag when I heard heavy breathing and dragging footsteps. I paused and furrowed my brow. "Daddy? Is that you?" I called as I stood up. I froze and dropped my bag when I saw what it was. It was my dad alright, but he wasn't himself. He was like Mr. Brown, his flesh pale and peeling, his eyes glazed over and pupils surrounded by red. There was a hunk of flesh missing from his arm and I knew it, I knew he'd been bitten. I felt tears well up in my eyes as I stumbled back. I hated my dad, I really did, but of all the things that could happen to him, he had to turn into one of those?! Well, at least he looked the monster he truly was inside. "Daddy?" I whispered as I took a step back. He didn't respond except to let out a low groan as he shuffled slowly towards me. Tears welled up in my eyes as I took another step back, my foot getting caught on the rug and sending me to the ground. I fell to the ground and let out a lungful of air. My dad started to lurch towards me, an unsatiable hunger in his eyes. "DARYL!" I finally managed to scream at the top of my lungs as I scrambled away from him on the floor. Seconds later Daryl came bursting through the door with his crossbow raised. There was a soft whistling sound and his arrow flew straight into my dad's skull. I looked away as my dad's body fell to the ground. Daryl walked over and pulled his arrow out of his skull before he walked over to me and grabbed my arm, pulling me up.  
"C'mon, kid, we gotta get outta here." he muttered as he picked up my duffel bag. I nodded and ran back across the street to Daryl's truck. Merle was getting his bike out and I already saw they'd loaded up some supplies. Daryl tossed my bag into the back of his truck and got into the front seat with me. "We'll follow after you, Merle." Daryl called to his brother. Merle nodded and pushed his bike out to the street. He swung his leg over it and started the noisy bike, I buckled myself in and took a deep breath as I leaned back in my seat. Daryl started the truck and pulled out of the weed infested driveway, starting after Merle. I closed my eyes and tried to piece this all together. I couldn't believe what I had just witnessed. My father, he was dead. Dead people? Up and walking around eating people. My life? Falling to pieces.


	3. Atlanta

~*~*~Flashback~*~*~  
I tiptoed up the front steps of my house and up towards the front door. It was dark out. I'd followed Daryl around the woods all day. It'd been about 2 week since I met him and he started to get used to me. I would often go out and sit on the porch with him when he was out there smoking, drinking, or cleaning his crossbow. The first few times he told me to scram, but after the fourth or fifth time, he just greeted me and let me stay without an argument. I would always make sure to be quiet if we were in the woods, and if I was sitting on his porch I would occasionally talk or ask him about his crossbow. He had sent me home today after realizing how late it was. I just hoped my dad didn't notice the time.  
I snuck in through the door and kicked off my shoes. I didn't hear my dad, so maybe I was safe. I headed towards my room when I suddenly felt a strong grip on my wrist. I squeaked in fear and whirled around to see my drunken father. I tried to tug my hand out of his grip, but he wouldn't let go. "Where the fuck you been?" he snarled angrily.  
"I was just at the neighbor's." I murmured. Before I even had time to think he lashed out and slapped me hard. My head whipped to the side and I tasted the metallic sting of blood from where I bit into my cheek.  
"Why the hell you been hanging around that godforsaken Dixon redneck?" he slurred angrily. I shook my head and tried to pull my hand away.  
"I just was out in the woods." I mumbled softly. He slapped me again and I cried out this time. He growled angrily and shoved me down to the ground.  
"Just like your momma, always bitching and whining about something." he shouted. He shoved me to the ground and started hitting me all over. I curled into a little ball and sobbed, begging him to stop hitting me. I don't know how long it went on, but he seemed to finally grow tired of it and move off to his bedroom. I lay on the floor for a long time before I slowly dragged myself up. I was shaking badly and had tears running down my bloody face. He'd never beaten me this bad before. My wrist was at a weird angle and I was hurt all over, my nose bleeding. I slowly dragged myself up and wiped the tears and snot off my face. I needed help.  
I made my way out of the house and over to Daryl's house across the street. I was limping and clutching my twisted wrist to me chest. I didn't know what to do. I needed Daryl's help. I limped up the front steps and tapped weakly at the door. Maybe he'd still be awake. It was late, past midnight, but I just had to hope he was still awake and would help me. I knocked a little louder again. "Daryl?" I called in a tiny voice. I knocked again and I soon heard footsteps and cursing from inside. A second later Daryl ripped the front door open. He looked right over me before he looked down and saw me. He groaned and rubbed his eyes.  
"Kid? What the hell you doin' here? You know what time it is?" he huffed as he reached over and turned the porch light on. As soon as he saw my state, he froze, any words he was about to say dying in his throat. I sniffled quietly and wiped my eyes.  
"I need help, Daryl." I muttered quietly.  
Daryl had let me in and was now looking me over. I'd sat down on the couch while he went to go get a wet towel. He returned and looked me over with a cold expression as he squatted in front of me and started to carefully clean the blood off my face. He didn't say a word and neither did I except for the occasional sniffle. "Your daddy do this to you?" he asked me after a moment. I hesitated before I slowly nodded.  
"He got mad at me when I got home." I said in a tiny voice. I'd never seen this look on Daryl's face before. I couldn't place it. He set the bloody towel down after he was finished and glanced me over. I had an awful bruise on both my eyes and my nose was aching. "Well, your nose ain't broken so that's good." he commented before he stood up and went back into the kitchen and got me a ice pack from the freezer. He handed it to me and I smiled slightly at him as I pressed it against the bump on my head.  
"Thanks, Daryl." I said quietly. He shrugged his shoulders and silence fell for a little while.  
"You coulda told me sooner, ya know." he said to me after a moment, a frown on his face. I looked down guiltily.  
"I didn't think you'd care." I mumbled. He looked over at me with an incredulous expression.  
"Why the hell wouldn't I care, kid? I ain't one to let some big guy beat on some lil girl." he scoffed. Daryl appeared to think for a moment, running his fingers through his hair. "You can crash on the couch for tonight. Tomorrow mornin' I'm takin' you back." he looked over and caught a glimpse of my alarmed expression. "And me and your daddy gonna have a talk." he said simply before he stood up and walked over to a small closet. He opened the door and rummaged around until he found a blanket. He brought it over to me and dropped it onto my lap. "Just get some sleep. I'm gonna make sure that your daddy don't hit you again, and if he does, you come get me, you hear me?" he said firmly. I nodded.  
"I hear you." I said softly. He nodded and went to go turn the living room light off, leaving the kitchen light on for me so it wasn't pitch black. He didn't say anything else before he disappeared off into his room. I slowly lay back on the old couch and pulled the tattered blanket around me. This was nice though... It felt... It felt safe. I didn't have to worry about my dad coming into my room in the middle of the night and beating me up or hauling me out of bed. I knew that Daryl was right in the next room and that if my dad did try to come after me, Daryl would stop him.  
~*~*~End Flashback~*~*~  
I opened my eyes and rubbed them hastily, looking around. It was dark out and we were on the side of the road. I ran my fingers through my hair and got out of the car, looking around for Daryl. I saw him beside Merle's bike talking quietly. I yawned as I joined them. "What's the matter, I thought we were heading for Atlanta." I said tiredly. Daryl glanced up at me and shook his head.  
"Change of plans, kid. Atlanta don't seem safe no more. We gonna stick to the woods for a bit and keep away from the city till all this calms down." he informed me. I raised one eyebrow and frowned at him.  
"Are you kidding me? We don't even know what _this_ is!" I cried in frustration. Merle huffed angrily and rolled his eyes at me.  
"Stop bitchin', Denver. Be glad we ain't dinner." he snapped at me. Daryl frowned at him.  
"Go easy on her, Merle. We all tryin' to figure out just what the hell this shit is." he muttered. Merle shook his head.  
"Just get the tent. We'll camp out here until we figure out what to do." he ordered us. Daryl and I both agreed that this was a good plan. It was our safest bet too. Daryl drove the truck a ways into the woods where we set up camp.  
We didn't eat that night. All of us were exhausted and me at least, I was scared. I was terrified that one of those monsters (biters as Merle took to calling them) would could lumbering out of the woods and eat us all. Merle took the first watch that night while Daryl and I went to bed. I lay down in my sleeping bag as Daryl turned the lantern off and got into his. I shut my eyes and took deep breaths to try and calm myself down. "Daryl, do you think we're going to be okay?" I asked softly after a moment. There was silence and I thought Daryl had fallen asleep on me.  
"Course we gonna be okay. We always are, ain't we, kid?"

A/N: Dale, Glenn, and the others are coming in next chapter, stay tuned!


	4. Hell of an Entrance

~*~*~Flashback~*~*~  
"Daryl, when's your birthday?" I asked suddenly as I played with my doll on his front porch. Daryl looked over over at me with a raised eyebrow as he cleaned his knife.

"Why you wanna know?"

"Just wondering." I said with a little shrug of my shoulders. Daryl eyed me for a moment before he shook his head and went back to cleaning his knife with a dirty dish towel.

"August 8th." he replied after a moment. I frowned at the ground. That was almost in a week.

"What're you gonna do for it?" I asked him. Daryl again looked over at me with an incredulous expression.

"The hell you mean what am I gonna do for it? Ain't gonna do nothin'." he scoffed. I was surprised and looked over at him.

"But aren't you going to see your family or something?"

"Don't got none to speak for, kid." Daryl said nonchalantly. "Well, 'sides my brother, but he ain't here right now." he explained to me. I wanted to ask him where his brother was, but I didn't think that was the right conversation to have right this moment.

"Well... Haven't you celebrated your birthday?" I asked with a puzzled expression. Daryl shook his head and looked down at his knife.

"Nope. Don't see the point. Just another day to me." he said. From his tone, I could tell that this conversation was over.

"Daryl!" I called as I ran across the street with a small newspaper wrapped object. I saw Daryl come out his front door. He looked worried.

"What the hell you screamin' about, kid?" he snapped as he shut the door. "Thought somebody was murderin' you or somethin'."

"No, I'm fine." I giggled as I ran up onto his porch with the object hidden behind my back. He saw that I was hiding something and instantly looked suspicious.

"Oh c'mon, what you hidin'? Don't got no time for no sick animals or nothin'. Put it down before you get rabies or somethin'." he ordered me. I grinned and shook my head.

"Isn't a sick animal." I said before I held out the package to him. He gave me an odd look and didn't take it.

"The hell's this?"

"It's a birthday present. Today's your birthday." I said cheerfully. Daryl frowned at me before he took it.

"Thought I told you that I didn't do nothin' today." he huffed before a took a seat on the steps. I sat down beside him and shrugged my shoulders.

"Well the least you can have is a present." I informed him smartly. Daryl shot me an incredulous gaze and untied the twine. He pulled the newspaper off and crumpled it up, throwing it to the side. He pulled out the red handkerchief I'd gotten him and examined it for a moment before he looked back over at me.

"What the hell's this for?" he inquired. I shrugged my shoulders.

"You're always cleaning your knife and arrows and stuff with that old rag from the kitchen. Thought you could use this." I said quietly. "Do you like it?" I asked nervously. Daryl looked over and shook his head at me before he folded the handkerchief up and shoved it in his back pocket.

"Ain't the worst present I ever got."  
~*~*~End Flashback

Two weeks and three days. That's how long we'd been in the woods. Every day Daryl checked the radio and things just got worse and worse. Cities were falling and getting overrun faster than we could keep track of. It was a unanimous decision to stick to the woods. Daryl and Merle knew it like the back of their hands, and I knew enough about it to keep my wits about me. Every night, one of us would take watch and at dawn, Daryl or Merle would go out hunting and get something to eat. We'd had a few biters come at us, but nothing we couldn't handle. We didn't stay in one place for more than two nights. We would pack everything up, Daryl would cover our trail and we'd move on. It wasn't ideal, but the city wasn't safe anymore. Atlanta had gotten taken down by these monsters. Daryl and Merle didn't question it. They just watched out for me and each other. I guess this was just how things were going to be from now on.

I turned the radio on and frowned. All I heard was static. "Daryl, how far away from the city are we?" I called to him from the truck. Daryl glanced over at me from where he was packing our things.

"Dunno, probably 'bout forty miles, maybe fifty. Why?" he asked.

"All that's on the radio's static. Did you get a signal last night?" I inquired. Daryl paused and sighed before he shook his head.

"Didn't get nothin'. Radio towers musta been taken down." he said quietly. I looked down at the steering wheel as Merle loaded the folded up tent into the truck.

"You scared of somethin', kid?" he asked me in that rough, hoarse voice of his. I shook my head.

"I'm not scared of anything." I said firmly. Merle scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"That ain't the way I remember it."

"C'mon, Merle, shut your ugly mouth." Daryl snapped at him. Merle rolled his eyes at his brother and shut the back of the truck.

"Just get your stuff, little brother." he ordered Daryl. Daryl tossed the last of our things into the truck.

"Where're we headed?" I asked Daryl as Merle got on his bike and Daryl started the truck.

"There's a quarry, 'bout five, maybe ten miles from here. We gonna head there. Might be safe." he said with a shrug. I sighed and picked a piece of dirt off my pants.

"Living with a bunch of dumb rocks? Can't be any different than living with you and Merle." I teased him. Daryl shot me an incredulous glance before he started the car and pulled off towards the street, driving towards the quarry.

We stopped about a mile away from the quarry and got out of the car. Daryl grabbed his crossbow from the back of the truck and Merle double checked his pistol. I just had a knife that Daryl gave me. We didn't have many weapons and half the time Daryl did all the killing since his crossbow was the quietest and didn't use up any ammunition. "We're walkin' from here. Don't wanna drive that noisy ass bike and my truck up there in case there's biters." Daryl announced. I nodded and made sure my knife was securely attached to my belt before I darted after Daryl and Merle who had already taken off. Maybe we'd be able to find shelter in the quarry. Maybe we could stop running.

"Are we almost there?" I asked. We'd been walking for awhile now, and I wasn't seeing any quarry.

"Stop runnin' your mouth and we might get there soon." Merle snapped at me. Daryl shook his head.

"Let's just keep movin'." he muttered. I looked disgruntled at the lack of an answer and veered off a bit. They were both still within my eyesight, but I at least had a bit of piece and quiet. I frowned and suddenly stopped when I heard running water.

"Daryl!" I called.

"Yeah I know, I hear it too." he called back to me. I advanced forward a bit, straining to hear anything else. The next thing I knew my foot had slipped out from under me and I pitched forward with a startled shout. I heard Daryl shout my name as I tumbled down the hill and into a small clearing. I felt myself get tangled up in a mass of string and heard loud cans rattling. I lay still and blinked dizzily, trying to get my bearings back. I heard footsteps running towards me and I was suddenly grabbed and pulled to my feet.

"Is she bit?!" cried a woman's scared voice.

"I don't know, Jacqui, I can't tell." came a man's voice. I swayed on my feet as I was pushed back and I saw a man pointing a rifle at me. My eyes widened and I froze. Before I could get anything out I heard running from behind me and twigs snapping. A second later Daryl and Merle burst into the clearing, both of their weapons raised. Silence fell as Daryl kept his crossbow pointed at the man with the rifle and Merle looked them over. There was an Asian boy with them. He was wearing a ball cap.

"Any of you bit?" asked the man with the gun after a very long minute. Daryl and Merle exchanged looks.

"Naw, we ain't bit." Daryl said after a moment. The man nodded and slowly lowered his gun. Daryl and Merle did the same with their weapons.

"You all sure make a hell of an entrance..." the Asian boy muttered to himself.


End file.
